The Sabres were mired in yet another disastrous season, fighting accusations that they were tanking on their way to their second consecutive last-place finish in the NHL standings. Hodgson endured lengthy scoring droughts and occasional healthy scratches, never finding a sense of calm.

His output drastically diminished. One season after scoring a career-high 20 goals for Buffalo, the 25-year-old mustered just 13 points, a 31-point tumble.

Sabres general manager Tim Murray floated the idea of buying out Hodgson, who would be owed one-third of the $19 million remaining on a six-year, $25.5 million contract. Murray acted in late June, placing the former top-10 draft pick on waivers and culminating what Hodgson previously called "by far the worst year I’ve had statistically in my whole life."

He would rather not discuss it anymore. He's concentrating on revitalizing his career in Nashville, where he signed July 1 to be the Predators' third-line center.

"Obviously it was tough," Hodgson said. "I hate dwelling on the past. I'm not going to (worry about) what could have been or what went wrong. I just really focus on the present moment. I'm happy to be here. Things seem to be going well on the ice here. ... I'm going try to fit in as best I can with these guys and contribute to winning."

After consulting with his agent, Hodgson traveled to Gothenburg, Sweden, to train during the offseason with two renowned coaches. Together, Andreas Larsson, a champion speed skater, and Peter Froberg, an expert in biomechanical movement, worked with Hodgson and other NHL players, putting them through rigorous on- and off-ice testing to discover their strengths and weaknesses.

"We located some issues that we focused on and our goal was to fire up body parts that had been shut down for some time, to reach full function in his body," Larsson said via email last week. "(The) main goal was of course to find a way to build him better as a hockey player in terms of (conditioning), power, speed and skating performance. ... I'm happy with his progress. He achieved some major results during this period. He left with better body function and he was way faster on the ice."

Originally planning to visit Sweden for three weeks, Hodgson extended his stay for three more.

"Cody was (concerned about) getting his body working in a proper way after some years of physical problems," Larsson said. "Cody came over with hungry eyes and was willing to work hard. And during the buyout period, we talked about it and I got a feeling that he was really happy to start all over in Nashville."

Hodgson signed a one year, $1.05 million contract with the Predators days after prematurely becoming an unrestricted free agent, seeing a fit within coach Peter Laviolette's uptempo offense and encouraged by the team's personnel. Nashville found success in signing forward Mike Ribeiro to those exact terms last year after he had his contract bought out by Arizona (albeit for different reasons). Predators general manager David Poile said in July that the identical deals were purely coincidental.

"By his own admission, it probably wasn't the best year and a half that he had in Buffalo," Laviolette said. "It's a change of scenery and a chance to come in here and really show what he can do."

Hodgson always hadliked Nashville, his favorite city to visit on the road. His sister, Caroline, attends Belmont University, and the two went to Game 1 of the Predators' first-round series against the Blackhawks in April on a whim. Hodgson was reminded of Bridgestone Arena's electric atmosphere, which he experienced firsthand when Vancouver faced Nashville in the 2011 playoffs.

It is here where Hodgson believes he can begin again.

"It's a successful team already," Hodgson said. "Just trying to help be part of a winning team here. They'e already established in the league and I want to be a good contributor to that.

"I want to contribute to our success here and help out in any way I can. That's my job right now, just focus on whatever way I can help them impact the team in a positive way."

The Predators wrapped up the preseason with a 7-1 loss to the Blue Jackets on Saturday. Columbus forward Brandon Saad, who scored twice against Nashville on Tuesday, did so again, as did forward Nick Foligno. Cody Hodgson scored the lone goal for the Predators in the second period.